Bionicle Legacies: The Return
by AZBlue13
Summary: Many millenia after the Fall of the matoran civilization, a new Team is summoned. Consisting of three Biomechanical Toa and five Human Toa, they are on a quest to ultimately bring about the matoran civilization's Return and defeat the Makuta.
1. Prologue

_**The Return**_

_Prologue_

The Mata Nuian sun slowly set on the final day of the matoran civilization. A civil war had erupted because of one matoran—Ahkmou. This civil war had lasted many years and destroyed many lives. The Toa had divided between the sides and only two remained. A Toa of Fire and a Toa of Ice. They had once bitterly split their team apart in the early years of the war, but now were more than just friends.

The Toa of Ice, one of the few females, stood overlooking her final home, the icy landscape of Ko-Wahi on the ancient island of Mata Nui. Her great grandfather once watched over this land, Toa Kopaka Nuva. She came from a very direct line of Toa, Kopaka and Gali being the first known Toa relatives of hers. Often, her long deceased parents would tell of the great deeds that had been done by the Toa Nuva. Remembering these tales brought both joy and sadness.

Hearing footsteps behind her, she turned and saw her friend walking up the slope toward the lone Toa of Ice.

The Toa of Fire had been there at the start of the war, when the Po-Matoran and agent of the Brotherhood of Makuta, Ahkmou, had openly rebelled toward the matoran. Surprisingly, more than half of the matoran had sided with Ahkmou. Within the first decade of the war, the two sides had reduced each other to a very small fraction of what they had been. The Toa Nuva had all sided with the Mata Nui, the group that still believed that the great spirits still existed. Ahkmou's group on the other hand, had lost all faith in the legends, and eventually had succeeded in destroying all but two Toa. The remaining Mata Nui destroyed Ahkmou's followers in a sacrifice that would have been remembered had anyone survived.

"Good evening, Kolana." The Toa of Fire said when he reached her. They caught each others eyes before Kolana turned away.

"Takano…" She said as a tear escaped from her eye. She wore a pearly white Akaku, as did her ancestor, Kopaka. Instead of the traditional design though, she'd had the late Turaga Vakama craft an x-ray visor to replace the three lenses and used the basic shape of a Calix for the design.

"Kolana, my friend, please stop." He spoke softly as he stepped up and put his hand on her shoulder. She turned toward him and looked into his dimmed orange eyes. He saw pain and grief, but also some joy and love. She saw only love and peace.

"You know what we are to do." Kolana said as she looked away and out over the horizon.

"Yes." Takano said as he began to walk to the former site of Ko-Koro. She soon followed as they trudged across the cold, snowy wasteland.

As they entered the ruined gates of the village of ice, an eerie silence fell over them, a silence that had been in the village as long as any matoran could remember.

Tears began flowing from both of Kolana's eyes as she remembered the days of her childhood. She pictured young matoran running across the slippery ground, doing the best that they could to try to make the older Ko-Matoran laugh. Every once in a while they would get a smile, and sometimes they could even get Turaga Nuju to laugh at their antics.

When they reached the entrance to the sanctuary, there was no crystalline ice skylight, but instead there was only the shattered remains and a gaping hole in the ceiling. Takano led her down the abandoned halls to the chamber that held the canisters that the Toa Nuva had arrived on Mata Nui in. The two Toa stepped into the center of the room and looked around before turning to each other.

"Takano." The Toa of Ice spoke softly, fear rattling through her voice.

"What is it, Kolana?" Takano impatiently asked.

Instead of answering, Kolana stepped closer to him, wrapped her arms around his body, and put her lips over his in a passionate kiss. At first the Toa of Fire stiffened up, but relaxed shortly before they pulled away from each other.

"I-I love you, Takano." She said shyly as she began to pace.

The Toa of Fire, for the first time in his life, was speechless. He too loved her, and suspected that she loved him, but had never expected that she would say anything about it. He had nearly given up hope on it when she finally told him.

"Kolana, I love you too." He smiled and sighed.

She laughed when she realized that he had been hoping that she would say something about their unspoken love for each other.

"C'mon. We need to leave before we lose all light." She said as she headed toward the transport with a snowflake carved into the side. He followed her and they exchanged one last kiss before he went to the transport with the flame carved into it. They climbed in and soon the hatches covered them. They could see out of the glass domes built into the hatch. Looking out at each other they both could see tears running down each other's masks. Using the primitive radio-like system to tell each other the one last thing before no communication was available: "'Till Mata-Nui summons us again!"


	2. Chapter 1

The Return Chapter 1

Tyler Mirado looked out the window of his room and onto the dark rain covered street. He wished that it was sunny and not raining outside so that he would have something to do other than play with his eight year old Lego Bionicle sets of the Toa Olda. Shortly after the adventures on Voya-Nui, Tyler had lost interest in the Bionicle series of Legos. He had barely had enough money to acquire the original six Toa, before he lost his job and his only way of getting the sets. He followed the story line through the comics and checking out the books from the library. Turning on his computer, he went straight to the only Bionicle related thing he still liked, the Bionicle Library on . He loved reading the various fan fiction stories that expanded on the original storyline, or altered it completely. Checking on his favorite epic series, a story beginning with "The Alliance", he found that T-Hybrid had still not added the next part of Terry's story.

Walking back to the window, he saw that the rain had somehow cleared and the sky was clear. He hadn't thought that he was going to see the strange objects that flew across the sky every night at around that time, but was soon proven wrong as two meteor-like objects streaked through the sky. One of the streaks was red, while the other was white. That night though, was different than other nights. It was a night of destiny. The two objects flew past in their usual location, but partway seemed to stop, and instead get brighter and bigger.

It is time for the return…

Tyler looked around his room for the source of the voice that he had just heard. As he turned back to his window, he was met by a blinding flash and large explosion that knocked him to the floor of his second-story room. When his eyes cleared, he got back up and looked out of the window. Two large canister-like objects sat in the crater that had once been the center of his street. Absent-mindedly, he grabbed a Toa canister that had been stripped of its wrappers and held his Toa Kopaka model. He ran down the stairs, past his frightened parents and older sister, and out the front door. As he approached the two canisters, He lifted Kopaka's canister up to his eye. He quickly deduced that either he was dreaming, or the Toa were real.

Suddenly, steam erupted from the tops of both canisters and the tops popped off. While the rest of the crowd backed off, Tyler curiously stepped forward. His mother called for him to come back to her, but he was too focused to hear. Slowly, two figures emerged from the canisters. One was holding a sword that had flames dancing along its blade, while the other had a glowing arrow trained at Tyler's head. His mother shrieked when she saw the arrow, and almost ran to save her son, if not for her husband's strength. As the steam and fog dissipated, the figures shapes became clearer, and so did their colors. The one with the sword was a dark crimson color, and the one armed with a bow was a pearl white color. Both wore masks over their heads, masks that Tyler soon recognized as variations on two of the original Bionicle masks.

"T-Toa Tahu?" Tyler nervously asked.

- - - - -

Both Toa deactivated their weapons in pure shock that this strange rahi had said the name of Tanako's ancestor.

"Who-no-What are you?" a larger one of the rahi asked.

"A Toa!" One of the small, apparently young rahi answered with what appeared to be a large smile.

"It can't be. Bionicle is a toy line, they've never really lived." Another young one stated.

"Stop!! Do not speak of the ancient legend that way, rahi!" Kolana shouted, already calculating what they were going to do next. She reactivated her weapon and moved from one rahi to the next until stopping again on the rahi closest to them.

- - - - -

Tyler was struggling with the concept that the Toa were here, and that they were endangering his life.

"Wait." Tyler said boldly as he opened the Bionicle canister that he still held. He pulled out the model of Toa Kopaka and set it gently on the ground standing upright. The white figure again deactivated her bow and arrow and set them on the ground before walking up to Tyler and picking up the toy.

"Where did you get this?" She quietly asked, so that Takano couldn't hear her, after examining the model.

"It was made by a toy company called Lego." He answered softly out of fear. "You're not Toa Kopaka, are you? You have a feminine voice, but you look like him so much."

She paused for a moment as a tear ran down her mask. "No, I'm not him. I'm his great granddaughter."

"I'm guessing that the Toa of Fire over there isn't Toa Tahu either." Tyler questioned the ice Toa.

"No, I'm not." Takano interrupted as he walked up beside Kolana. "I am Toa Takano, Toa of Fire, and descendant of the great Toa Tahu. You know much about our past, don't you?"

"Well, I know about the Toa Nuva, and the Toa Inika, and even the Toa Metru and Hagah, but I've never heard either of your names before." Tyler replied.

"Those are all Toa from Mata-Nui and Metru-Nui." Kolana gasped.

"I figure that you're not a Rahi either. You don't look like any that I've ever seen." Takano inquired.

"That's right. I'm not a rahi, but I and everyone you see around here are basically what you would call matoran." He explained to the two heroes. "Why don't you come inside, out of the watchful view of the neighbors? You can trust me and my family, but I don't know about the other families here."

Kolana looked pleadingly at Takano, begging to learn more about these strange matoran.

"All right," he sighed, "We'll come with you."

"OK. Let me take care of something before we head in." He walked toward the center of the circle of people before telling them not to call the police, and to not be afraid of the two Toa. While he was doing that, the young child that had been the first to recognize them as Toa ran up to the heroes with a Disneyland autograph book When Tyler noticed this he stiffened, but his fears were false, as the two Toa took the kid's pen and signed the book in matoran. This just reaffirmed that the strange, armored creatures were friendly, and even got some of the gathered crowd to cheer.


	3. Chapter 2

The Return

_Chapter 2_

_So…It has begun…The heroes have returned…_

A hulking figure stood next to an elderly matoran. The matoran looked up at its master and smiled before heading back to his chambers.

"The two Toa are still alive after all." The matoran said to himself as he wrote in an ancient journal. "This couldn't have been stopped. I and my master were too weak to destroy them ourselves. Now though, now we have gained back strength and power. We had influenced various leaders in preparation for their return. The few righteous replacements of matoran were beginning to grow thanks to that toy company, Lego. They had found a former lair of my master's, and rescued some of the history of their world. It was too strange for the historians and scientists to believe, so Lego took advantage of that and produced its first ever toy series with a story. They had modified things, lessening the amount of violence, and completely rewriting the history at the end of the records that they had. In the early years of the toy, my master had influenced a tribe that called themselves the Maori, and helped them to have Lego repair the names to what they really were in the records. We shall finally have our revenge on those Mata Nui. All will serve Makuta and his humble servant, Ahkmou!!" He let out a little dark chuckle at the last part. He knew for certain that Makuta would end up falling, and only he would be the leader of the world.

- - - - -

Tyler led the two ancient heroes down to a room in the basement, away from the curious eyes of his neighbors. Kolana followed eagerly, while Takano kept a close eye on the strange matoran. Once they had reached the room, Takano asked if there was another room private enough for him to meditate. Tyler showed him to the small closet hidden under the staircase and quickly left the Toa of Fire to his meditations. He then ran to his room to grab his laptop and brought it to the Toa of Ice. Accessing the two websites he knew would help him most, BZPower and BioSector01, he showed her the pictures from the three original movies and scenes from Lewa11's first Bionicle movie, Bionicle: Quest of the Toa. Kolana watched and examined everything that he showed her while gathering various questions in her mind. He even pulled out his old Bionicle keyboard and attached it to the Computer. After which he activated a special translator that Anaglyph and Flamewave gaming had produced for Internet Explorer that converted every piece of text on the screen into matoran glyphs.

"Mata-Nui!" She exclaimed when she saw her great grandfather for the first time in a picture from Mask of Light. "He looks more noble than I ever imagined. The legends were true about them and Toa Takanuva!"

"What ever happened to Takanuva?" Tyler asked the intrigued Toa.

"No one knows for sure." She sighed. "One day he was there, not long after the Toa Inika and Toa Nuva returned, the next he disappeared. The only ones known to have seen him after that was his wife, Nixie, and Turaga Vakama. He had returned long enough for the Turaga to summon a daughter for him and Nixie. Their daughter was one of my grandmothers."

"So one of your family members is the Toa of Light?" The young boy asked disbelievingly.

"Yes. Nixie died only a week before her and her husband's wedding." Tears began streaming down her mask as she thought of the pain that her entire family had gone through.

- - - - -

Takano sat in the small room meditating, trying to figure out why they were at last summoned. He thought and thought while Kolana and Tyler chatted about the past of the world. Not long after he began, he got a terrible vision of death and destruction. Then, out of nowhere, a beam of light shot down next to where the Toa of Fire stood. As he looked over to the Toa that had arrived next to him, he caught a glimpse through the eye of strange mask the Toa wore and saw, not a Toa's face, but the face of one of the strange matoran. A face that was familiar, yet not recognizable at the same time. The vision faded and he was returned to his body. He looked around the small room again before exiting into the room that Tyler and Kolana were in.

- - - - -

"We have to contact this toy company, Tyler." Kolana said to him as Takano stepped through the closet door.

"I know how to." He replied as he opened up a PM window on BZPower. "The person who writes the comics and books is a member of this place. He works for Lego and is on the story team, so he probably knows where they got the history of the matoran." Tyler soon had finished writing the PM and sent it off to GregF, the only person he knew of that could help him at that time.

- - - - -

Greg Farshtey checked through his PM box on BZPower, looking for stuff of interest. He skipped over a few PMs including the one from the member Tyeran entitled "Urgent: I Have a Problem." He was about to delete the spam-like PMs when something told him to open Tyeran's.

_Dear Mr. Farshtey,_

_Though this may sound very strange to you, I have two Toa sitting here in my basement with me. I'd send pictures, but my digital camera isn't working. Their names are Takano and Kolana. They are descendants of Tahu, Takano that is, and Kopaka, Kolana. Please don't pass this off as a good idea for a story. I'm telling the truth, you must believe me. You've seen my posts and other questions, I'm sure, so you would know that I wouldn't bug you about something that wasn't important. Please reply._

_Tyler Mirado a.k.a. Tyeran_

Greg immediately got on the phone with the chief of the story team and the CEO of Lego. From the news earlier that evening that two strange tubes had crashed into the center of a residential street and no one in that neighborhood would give a straight answer, he knew for sure that something was up.

As he spoke with the two Lego employees, he replied to Tyler's PM asking for his street address and a back way to his house.

- - - - -

Tyler had Kolana refresh the page every little while as he waited for a reply from Greg. He had been upstairs talking with his parents and keeping a watchful eye out the windows. He had just noticed that a Police car was pulling into the driveway when Kolana called for him. Reaching the bottom of the stairs just as the Police officer knocked on the front door, he quickly read and replied to Greg's PM before having the Toa hide under the stairs so that he could go back upstairs.

The Police officer had just sat down when Tyler came back up the stairs.

"Good evening, Mr. Mirado." The officer said. "I'm officer Glade. I'd just like to ask you a few questions if that's all right with your parents."

"Y-yes, officer, th-that's fine." His mother said, scared that Tyler or his friends might be in danger.

"Mr. Mirado--"

"Tyler." Tyler corrected.

"Tyler, I've heard various reports about two strange creatures coming out of those tubes outside, and that you had something to do with it. I know that there is something, because I have proof." The officer said as she pulled out a Disneyland autograph book that Tyler recognized as the kid's from earlier that evening. "So you do know something." Officer Glade said when she noticed Tyler's expression.

"Maybe I do." The boy said rebelliously.

"You might as well tell us. My fellow Officers and I are going to be searching this house momentarily. We have a search warrant for all of the houses in the area. That's how we found the autograph book." She reached for her radio and called for the others to come search the house. They entered the house and began poking around. Tyler tensed up every time the officers got near the door to the basement. He frantically searched around for a weapon of some kind to help defend his friends, if they needed an escape. The time finally came, and he was still weaponless. He ran in front of the basement door and, knowing that they would be listening mentally, called for the Toa.

"We've found them!" One of the officers shouted into his radio. Soon, the entire police force of his small town had Tyler surrounded, some with their guns drawn, some with tazers, but all were trained at his heart.

"Mr. Mirado, please step away from that door. You do realize that you are protecting something very dangerous, don't you?" Officer Glade asked harshly, her kind yet slimy tone becoming mean and commanding.

"You will never take the Toa!! Not with me alive." Tyler shouted, hoping that it wasn't his last words.

"Then, DIE!!" Officer Glade darkly gave the signal and all at once the Police men and women that held guns fired.


	4. Chapter 3

The Return

_Chapter 3_

Tyler could never exactly recall what happened next, but less than a hundredth of a second after the guns were fired, a beam of bright light burst through his house and hit him square in the chest, knocking him through the basement door and down the steps. Not one bullet grazed him and the police all dropped their guns, all that is, except for Officer Glade. She continued firing at Tyler even as his body was transformed from a simple young boy, into an armored, elemental hero. At the sound of the gunfire Takano and Kolana bolted from their hiding place and blasted their combined elemental energies at Officer Glade. Somehow though she escaped, uninjured, to her waiting patrol car and drove off in the direction of downtown. The rest of the officers also left at the sight of the Toa and their powers, but they went to their homes to tell the story to their families.

Takano slowly turned toward his new friend and saw the great Toa from his meditations lying unconscious in place of the young boy. Kolana, who had been trained as a healer before she became a Toa, ran to Tyler's side and checked his vital signs where she knew they would be in a Toa. She turned to Takano and smiled before walking up the steps and into Tyler's family room where his mother and father sat frozen in shock on the couches.

"H-he's d-dead, isn't he?" His mother asked, frightened to know the answer.

"No, he's very much alive. Probably more alive than you've ever seen him." Kolana sighed as she sat down on a chair across from the two parents. "I don't know how to explain it in a way that you'll understand. Tyler isn't a matoran anymore. The Great Spirit Mata-Nui has called upon your son to become something more. He is one of us now. He is a Toa."

- - - - -

Tyler awoke later the next morning in his old bed. He vaguely remembered the events of the night before, but they seemed so much like a dream. The last thing he remembered was being blasted backward less than a second after being shot at by the protectors of his town. Sitting up in bed, he looked at his alarm clock and found that it was already ten o'clock. He rushed out of bed and into the bathroom, not even noticing his changed appearance as he got ready for school. When he finally got downstairs, his parents were sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Tyler quickly asked as he searched for something to eat. "I'm going to get a detention for being late for school again."

"You're not going back, Ty." His mother grimly stated.

"What do you mean?" He asked whipping around to face his parents.

"Have you not noticed?" His father questioned.

"Noticed what?"

"Tyler. Son. Y-you. You aren't exactly what you used to be anymore." His father continued.

"What?" he asked, even more confused than he was used to being. His mother pulled a small mirror out of her pocket and handed it to Tyler.

It was then that he noticed that his arm had changed. Instead of being covered in just skin, he had golden armor and silver pistons covering his forearm up to his shoulder. He looked down at his legs where his shorts didn't cover and found not human feet, but robotic with bits of muscle peaking through some of the gaps. His legs were heavily armored and he could feel pistons working as he bent his knee. He pulled off his shirt and looked at himself through the mirror. His torso was covered in gold and white armor that moved with him as he stretched. Building up the courage, he finally looked at his head in the mirror. He was surprised when he found that it hadn't changed except for a metallic cover over his ears.

"What am I?!" He screamed.

"You, Tyler, of all matoran should know what you are." A feminine voice behind him said. He turned and came face to face with the Toa from the night before.

"But, how? I thought that you two were that last of the Toa."

"We did too. But it's now time for a new generation to pick up the torch. Welcome, Tyler to the life of a Toa."

"What about a mask?" Tyler asked.

"I left it on your desk, Ty." His mother answered.

As he ran to his room, a gentle knock came from the door. The two Toa hid themselves in the basement as Tyler looked curiously out his closed blinds. When he saw who was at the door, he nearly fainted with relief. Standing at the door was none other then his writing hero, Greg Farshtey. Tyler ran down the stairs and got Kolana and Takano out of the basement before walking to the door himself. He moved past his nervous mom before giving her a reassuring smile and opening the door.

"Greg? Greg Farshtey? You really came!" Tyler exclaimed with joy as he brought his guest into the family room where the Toa were standing.

"You must be the two Toa." He said when he noticed Takano and Kolana. Next he introduced himself to Tyler's parents before finally turning to Tyler. "Amazing. This must have been from that beam of light I saw shoot down on my way here. I'm sorry. You must be Tyler."

"What's left of him at least."

"Nonsense." Greg smiled at him. "Any Bionicle fan would kill to become what you've become. That's why most of the BZPower fan stories are based off of the author becoming a Toa or at least a Bionicle character. You, on the other hand, get to live it." He turned to the Toa. "I'm very pleased to actually meet you. I'm the only one on the story team to have actually guessed at your existence, what with the two missing transports at the ruins of Ko-Koro. Now, tell me your names."

"I am Takano, Toa of Fire and descendant of Tahu." Takano said.

"And I am Kolana, Toa of Ice and descendant of Kopaka." She finished.

"Now, tell me everything that truly happened after Voya-Nui."

As the two Toa related the tales of their ancestors, Tyler, with Greg's permission, posted in his BZBlog what had happened in the last twenty-four hours. Most BZPower members actually believed him, especially after what Greg had posted in his Blog less than twelve hours before. Meanwhile, Greg was taking photos of the Toa and eventually Tyler joined them for the pictures. Later in the day, after Greg had been talking with Tyler's parents, and Tyler had been training with his mask, a Kanohi that combined many of the classic powers into one mask, they all gathered in the family room. They still hadn't been able to figure out what his elemental powers were until Greg made a connection between Takanuva's disappearance and Tyler's armor style. It was decided that Tyler was the second Toa of Light in the world's history.

Tyler was about to go back into the basement with the two Toa, when there was a gentle knock at the front door. He rushed down into the basement as his parents opened the door. He faintly heard the voice of a young girl, and immediately perked up. Hurrying up the stairs and through the door, he came face to face with his best friend, Emma Brooks.


	5. Chapter 4

The Return

_Chapter 4_

"Tyler? Tyler, what happened?" Emma asked him worriedly.

"I've become a Toa." He replied with a shy smile.

"But, Tyler, they aren't real. They're just a toy series." She disbelievingly told him.

"Not exactly true." Kolana said as she and Takano came up behind Tyler. Emma almost passed out when she saw them, their sleek, armored bodies and strange, masked faces reflecting the sunlight of outside.

"That does explain the two containers they took away last night. And you, Tyler, explain the bright flash I saw after I went home." She moved closer to Tyler and gave him a crushing hug as tears came to her eyes. "Tyler, I was so worried about you after the gunshots went off. I knew that they came from your house. I don't want anything to happen to you, ever. You're my only true friend."

"Thank you, Emma." Tyler said through his own tears as she backed off. "I really needed that from you."

_It is time for the Toa of Water to come forth…_

"What was--" Emma's speech was cut off as a bright flash filled the room, knocking everyone but her to the ground. She stood with a shocked expression on her face as the light enveloped her body and transformed her into a blue armored Toa of Water. When it was all over, she lay motionless where she had stood seconds before, looking as peaceful as ever.

- - - - -

Tyler sat silently next to what normally was his bed, watching his friend as she slept. Her golden hair tied into a ponytail. She had bright green eyes that contrasted with her tanned face. The rest of her body, apart from her hands, had been covered in dark blue armor that gleamed in any light.

"Emma… I'm sorry about all of this." He sighed before continuing to talk to the sleeping Toa. "I-I don't know if I should tell you this now but I…" He stopped as she sat up in bed.

"T-Tyler?" She asked groggily. "What happened to me?"

"You also have become a Toa. Probably a Toa of water, judging by your armor color." He paused. "How long have you been awake?"

"Long enough to know you were going to tell me something." She grinned at him.

"Emma…" Tyler looked down at his hands as he thought about what he was going to say. "Emma, I-I like you. I-I want to be more than just friends with you."

"I also want to be more than just friends, Tyler." She smiled before reaching for him and hugging him.

- - - - -

They walked down the stairs holding hands and smiling brightly. The two new Toa had already found a true friendship and caring for each other that couldn't have been made any other way. As they turned the corner into the family room, Emma couldn't help but laughing when her single mother, who had been invited over, gasped at her and Tyler's appearance.

"E-Emma?" Her mother asked as she looked her daughter over. "How could this happen to you? How could a toy be real? How?"

"I understand it as much as you do, Mom." She said as she walked over to her parent. "All that I know is that it is needed. The world is in danger, and new heroes are needed. I am one of those new heroes, as is Tyler."

"But why?" Emma's mother asked, tears streaming down her face. "Both of you are only 16. Sixteen-year-olds don't save the world in modern times. It was even rare in the past."

"Ma'am." Kolana interrupted. "I've calculated out about how old Takano and I were in human aging when we became Toa, and we were only 15 when Mata-Nui first called upon us."

"I'm sorry, Mom." Emma said. "If I could reverse it, I would, for you."

"No you wouldn't, Emma." Her mother replied. "I wouldn't allow you to. If you are destined to be a hero, then so be it. I'm just having trouble letting go."

"I love you, Mom." Emma told her mother with a smile and hug. She was walking back to Tyler when there was a sharp, heavy knock at the front door. They all looked around at the windows and saw that the State Police had been called and had surrounded the house.

"Come out with your hands up!" A familiar voice yelled through a megaphone.

"We're all going to be killed!" Emma said before she panicked and ran through the front door, blasting water at the various officers. "Get out of there!" She yelled at the remaining three Toa.

"Kolana, Takano, get our parents out of here. We'll hold off these Vahki." Tyler commanded the two heroes before running outside himself. When he finally reached Emma, she was close to passing out from the use of her elemental powers. He quickly activated the Hau power in his mask and deflected the bullets that were being fired at the pair.

"Tyler…Put your shield down…We're too weak and inexperienced…" Emma spoke softly between gasps for air. Tyler hesitantly did what she asked and immediately was tackled by the SWAT team that had been called. While the police were all distracted, Takano and Kolana took the opportunity to run with the three parents. Tyler could hear his mother screaming and crying as she saw them get surrounded by the SWAT team. The last thing he saw before being shot with a tranquilizer was Officer Glade laughing over the two friends.

- - - - -

Takano ran from the car as they began to pull away. He was going to try and rescue the two young Toa from certain death. He slashed his way through the crowd as he worked his way to Emma and Tyler. Before he could reach them though he was shot in the back by a young policeman. He thought that he was about to be killed when a sudden peace came over him. Knowing that these were likely to be his last moments alive, he fought like never before, but collapsed just short of the two Toa.

Kolana had seen all of this happen and jumped from the car not long after they had began to leave. She soon was injured but reached Takano before being hit by a tranquilizer fired by none other than Officer Glade.


	6. Chapter 5

The Return

_Chapter 5_

Takano awoke with a splitting headache. Immediately he looked around the bright white cell that he was being kept in. Laying next to him was Kolana and through a large window he could see the already awake Emma and Tyler, both pacing through their cell. He then checked his back where he had been shot and found that Kolana had healed him before going down herself. Emma soon noticed that he was awake and began trying to speak with him through the thick glass. She then remembered that all Toa have a mental connection of sorts and was able to contact him that way.

_**Takano. Are you and Kolana all right?**_ She spoke in his mind.

_**I think so. How are you and Tyler?**_He replied.

_**Never better**__. _She sarcastically answered as Tyler walked to the glass.

_**What are we going to do? I don't see any way out of here**__._ Takano asked.

_**Tyler's already figured out how we were placed in here, and is in the process of figuring out how to get out**__._ Emma answered before turning to Tyler.

"Hey, Emma." He said. "I-I'm sorry about all of this. I can't figure out how we're going to get out. I can't get my powers to work."

"Its all right, Tyler. We'll figure something out." She looked at him and smiled.

_**Anything, Emma?**_ Takano asked.

_**Not yet. We can't get our powers to work**__. _She replied.

_Help is coming…_

_**What was that?**_ Emma wondered allowed.

Suddenly there was a huge crash and the power flickered. Dust soon filled the air of the two holding cells, choking their prisoners. As the dust cleared, a pair of figures stood in a hole in one of the walls. One, covered in black armor, pulled of its mask and revealed the face of a young girl. The other, covered in brown armor, wasn't wearing a mask. He quickly broke the glass separating the two cells and released Emma and Tyler. The six Toa ran from the room through the trashed hallways of what appeared to be a hospital.

When they finally reached the outside, they found that they stood in the center of a large army base. They were surrounded, not by rolling prairies, but instead by mountains and cacti. Then it hit Tyler, they were in Area 51. The government thought that the Toa were aliens. Waiting on a nearby airstrip, was a small jet. Sitting at its controls was one of Tyler's other friends, Cory Joel. Tyler had once commented that if Cory was a matoran, he would for sure be a Le-Matoran, because of his attitude and love for flying. Now Tyler was proven correct for as they entered the plane, Tyler caught a glimpse of Cory's emerald armor.

"Welcome aboard, my friends." Cory yelled from the pilot's seat. "We'll be flying to a place we have all wanted to go to, Lego's Headquarters in Denmark. So—"

"Cut the chatter and get this thing flying!!" The girl in the black armor snapped as gunshots began going off outside the plane. Cory gave an 'if you say so' glance back at her before pushing the plane to full throttle and quickly getting out of the base. The occupants of the plane were thrown against their seats as the plane quickly gained altitude.

"Um, Cory, We've got company!!" Tyler shouted as he looked out the window at a formation of fighter planes.

"Don't worry, guys. They're from Denmark. Greg sent them here as soon as you four were captured." The boy in brown armor told the other four Toa. "Anyways, my name is Keith Lay. I'm the Toa of Stone in our group."

"And I'm Kylana Porter, but you can call me Ky. As you probably have guessed, I'm the Toa of Earth." The girl in black said before turning to Kolana and Takano. "How are you two doing for your first flight in an airplane?"

"I'm s-scared to death." Takano said through clenched teeth.

"It's not too bad. It's like the airships of Metru-Nui, only faster." Kolana laughed at Takano.

"That's good." Ky said.

- - - - -

Tyler and Emma had sat down next to each other and were chatting with each other when the plane finally touched down twelve hours later on the Lego runway in Denmark. Immediately after the doors to the plane opened, two Lego employees checked the plane for any stowaways and then allowed the Toa off. Tyler and Emma held hands as they walked along a forested trail to the only gateway to the ruins of the matoran civilization. It led them down into a cave and into a huge, dark cavern, that showed signs of a previous civilization. Across a large, ocean like expanse, a dim light glowed in the distance. They knew what they were looking at, but none of them believed it. No Toa had set foot down there in many millennia and yet to the two Mata-Nuian Toa, it felt like nothing had changed. They knew that in the morning the twin sun holes would shine over Metru Nui again, like they had throughout the absence of the civilization.

"We'll make camp here tonight, and in the morning we will travel to the only still standing monument to the matoran civilization," Keith explained. "Metru Nui."

- - - - -

Tyler heard a large splash not far from where he was trying to sleep. He immediately sat up and looked around. His powers of light allowed him to see clearly even in complete darkness. Nothing had changed, but he saw one other Toa sitting up and looking around. The Toa pf Light got up and quietly walked over to the other. Kylana was sitting there crying, but stopped when Tyler walked over.

"Kylana? You all right?" He asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "I've just been through a lot recently."

"Like what?"

"Officer Glade had my parents killed when they tried to protect me. I don't know what happened to my little sister. For all I know, she too was murdered." Kylana sobbed.

"When did this happen?" Tyler said.

"Two days ago. You were captured two days before that."

"How'd they keep us asleep for that long? Why'd we wake up when we did?" Tyler questioned.

"As far as I know, they were putting sleeping gas into the holding cells we found you in until it was time for all of you to be 'examined'." She explained. "Lego did find your parents, alive and well, if you were wondering. Emma's mother was with them."

"Thank goodness." He sighed. "Where are they now though?"

"Already on Metru-Nui. That's part of the reason we're going there. The other reason is the Great Temple still has Toa Tools inside of its Toa Suva."

"Well, it was nice talking to you. We probably need to get some sleep though." Tyler said, ending the conversation. "See you in the morning."

"'Night." She replied.

- - - - -

The group awoke late in the morning to the gentle sound of waves hitting the shore. Slowly, one by one, they sat up and looked around. They looked toward Metru-Nui, but couldn't see it because of the fog that came off of the Silver Sea. Looking back the way they had came, it was nothing but a dense forest, with not a sign of any life. The trees and life thrived in the area, all because of the protodermis that still filled the Silver Sea. They looked up and saw the sky for a little bit before it ran into the cavern's tall entryway.

Tyler stood and walked over to Emma, who was just waking up, and told her about Kylana and his talk during the night. They hugged before going over to where Keith was preparing the boats.

"Good Morning, Tyler." He said happily. "Hope you all got a good nights rest. Today we're traveling to Ga-Metru, the district of water. As we begin rebuilding the matoran city, we will also be training each other at the guidance of Kolana and Takano…"

The six Toa listened as Keith explained what they were going to do while in Metru-Nui. As he spoke, Tyler's thoughts wandered from one thing to another. He remembered when he first met Emma back in Junior High. It was lunchtime on the first day of eighth grade. Tyler didn't have many friends then, and the friends he did have were in a different lunch. He looked around the cafeteria for an empty seat until he saw a girl his age sitting alone at a table. He didn't recognize her, but he felt like he needed to sit with her.

"Hello?" Tyler said when he sat down. "Are you new here?"

"Yeah, why?" she replied

"No one else was sitting here." Tyler paused for a moment. "Anyway, my name is Tyler Mirado."

"I'm Emma Brooks."

And so their friendship began, and grew over the years.

A loud splash brought Tyler back to reality. Keith had jumped into the water to pull the large motor boat closer to shore. Tyler looked back toward the forest one last time before climbing into the boat and sitting down next to Emma.


	7. Chapter 6

The Return

_Chapter 6_

The seven Toa stood on the shore of their new home. Tyler and Emma smiled at each other as their parents ran up and greeted the group. They all exchanged greetings before being led down the path to the new home of Tyler's family.

It was a large house for matoran standards, and included various things similar to what humans had created, such as a small computer, and a refrigeration unit. In some ways, it was very similar to the Mirado's former home, back in Illinois, but in many others it was completely different.

Just prior to the Matoran Civil War, the peoples of the matoran world, organic and biomechanical, began to thrive with each other. They borrowed various forms of technology, and eventually created the weapons that would destroy themselves.

"Tyler, we will meet at the entrance to the Great Temple Complex in two hours." Keith explained to the Toa of Light. "You can explore Ga-Metru during those two hours, but do not leave the region. We will go into the other Metrus once we are properly armed. In any case though, there is a secondary weapon up in your room, for use against the various animals, and few Rahi that still inhabit this Metru."

"Thanks, Keith." Tyler replied. "I'll come with you guys, after I've grabbed my weapon."

Tyler hurried up the flight of stairs to the only room on the second floor. Inside was an entire collection of the Bionicle sets and promotions. Lying on the bed was a short sword with a very decorative scabbard. It reminded Tyler of the scabbard that Link carried in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, that had just been re-released due to its lasting popularity.

Tyler picked up the blade, and unsheathed it. The hilt was just as intricately designed as the sheath, but it was perfect for his hand. He swung it around a few times before putting it back and strapping it over his shoulder. Hurrying back down the stairs, he failed to notice the shadow detach from the wall behind him and scurry into his room.

"You guys ready?" Tyler asked.

"Yep, we've already gotten our secondary weapons." Emma told her friend.

"All right, Tyler." Keith said. "I'll see you guys later. I'm going to be at Greg's house if you need anything. Be careful."

The six remaining Toa followed Keith out the front door and into the street. As Keith headed toward Greg's Metru-Nuian home, Tyler and the others waited outside his front door.

"Takano, Kolana, have either of you been to Metru-Nui before?" Emma asked the ancient Toa.

"When we were very young we visited this once great city." Kolana replied. "It was in worse condition than it is now. Poverty was everywhere. Ga-Metru itself was almost destroyed, but look at it now! It has flourished with your kind more than it ever did with the Matoran."

They all smiled at that comment.

"Takano, where would a good place to have lunch be?" Tyler asked as his stomach growled.

"Probably at the park across from the Great Temple." He answered. "That was where my family picnicked when we visited."

Once Takano finished, Tyler ran back inside to grab the picnic that he had noticed his mom making before he had gone outside. When he came back out, the group of Toa headed down the street in the opposite direction that Keith had gone, toward the tall towers of the Great Temple.

They soon reached the park that they were going to. Great waterfalls fell from above them as they began to eat on the island park. Bridges over the protodermis had provided them safe entry to the park that also held the bridge that led to the Great Temple complex. Though the main building of the Great Temple had twice been destroyed, it modernly stood, great and majestic, above the rest of Ga-Metru. The rest of the complex was built after the start of the Matoran Civil War, and had protected the Great Temple until the last year of the War.

After the Toa were done eating their peanut butter & jelly sandwiches, they began to walk around. For over an hour, the six Toa walked through the Metru, admiring the ancient structures, and stopping whenever they would reach a landmark. Their last stop, before heading back to the Great Temple, was at Takanuva and Nixie's house. Quietly, they walked inside. Dust covered everything, and sunlight barely was coming through the front window, but nothing seemed to have changed since Takano and Kolana were there on family vacations, before the War reached Metru-Nui and Mata-Nui. They were about to leave when they heard footsteps behind them. Slowly Tyler turned around, scared as to what he might see. Standing in the main hallway was none other than Toa Takanuva.

"Get out." The ancient Toa of Light said, his voice worn, and aged.

Instead of leaving, the six Toa silently dropped to one knee, heads lowered in respect for the great Toa.

"Who are you?" He asked, calmed down from being angry.

"Toa Takanuva, we are the Toa Century." Tyler quickly spoke for the group. "The Toa of our generation."

"That can't be, all of the Toa except me are thousands of years dead!" He exclaimed.

"That isn't true, Grandfather." Kolana told him as she rose.

"G-g-granddaughter?!" He spoke softly, tears coming to his eyes.

"Yes, I'm your granddaughter. One of the last two Matoran based Toa. This is my best friend, Takano." She said as Takano and the rest of the Toa stood. She then introduced the rest of the group to her grandfather.


	8. Chapter 7

The Return

_Chapter 7_

"Takanuva's been alive all of this time?!" The massive form of Makuta shuddered as his ancient joints brought him around to face his servant, Ahkmou.

"Great Makuta, even the greatest tracker couldn't have known that he was still around. He vanished long before the Civil War." The Po-Matoran explained to his master.

"You are correct, Ahkmou. If I couldn't have known, no one could have." The lord of Shadow said as he turned back toward the doorway through which his brother, Mata Nui slept, silenced a second time less than a day before.

Ahkmou slipped away and back into his room to his journal. "So, The 'great' Toa of Light was alive after all. That makes two that are against Makuta. Both Toa of Light will fall though. I will see to that. The rest of those pesky Toa won't be a problem after they fall. Makuta and I shall conquer this world, for once and for all."

- - - - -

"Mata-Nui!" Keith said as he looked out the window of his observatory. He had been keeping track of the changes in the stars since the day that the two Toa returned. Taking from the notes that Greg had given him, he discovered many things, most of them disturbingly bad.

His most recent discovery was of the movement of a star brighter than the rest. Most astronomers called it Polaris, or the North Star, but to Keith, it was the spirit star of an important figure in the world's history, Toa Takanuva. The only other star that he had noted was a very dim one, that he called the Makuta Star.

Now though, he was aiming his Telescope at the shore from which they had departed to Metru-Nui from. He could have sworn that he had seen a tank minutes before. That's when he heard the distant explosion and saw the smoke rising from the forest. The ground suddenly shook as another explosion rocked all of Ga-Metru. He bolted out of his observatory and ran to the Great Temple as fast as he could.

- - - - -

Takanuva and the other six Toa fell to the floor as the explosion rocked the Metru. Thoughts went flying through each of the Toa Century's heads. The most common thing being of Officer Glade and her forces. Takanuva had different thoughts though. He knew who may have been behind the entire thing.

"Toa, we must get out of here." Tyler said as he and Takanuva both headed for the door.

The seven Toa rushed out the door and got partway down the street when they were again thrown to the ground by an explosion.

"Takanuva," Emma spoke quickly. "Is there a shortcut to the Great Temple from here?"

"Yes." He replied before getting up and leading the Toa down another street.

They had just reached the bridge to the Great Temple when they heard shouting behind them.

"Toa, wait for me!!" the lone figure yelled to them. Keith had run from his observatory to the Great Temple as fast as he could.

"Keith, what's happening?" Kylana asked when he reached the group.

"Officer Glade…She's here!" He said between gasps of air. "We must get our weapons now. We must--wait. Who are you?" The Toa of stone asked the third Matoran Toa.

"I am Takanuva, Toa of Light." He simply replied. "And you are?"

"Keith Lay, Toa of Stone." Keith quickly answered as he began to lead the group across the bridge.

As soon as they got into the Temple, Takanuva led them down a series of corridors to the room that held the Toa Suva. The sacred room that held the Toa Suva was the only room untouched by thieves or vandals during the war. Toa from both sides guarded it throughout Matoran History. By the time the war was over, most of the Great Temple lay in ruins. The only three rooms left in perfect condition were the summoning room, where matoran children were brought into being, the Suva room, and the council chamber.

The seven Toa Century and Takanuva hurried into the room. They quickly followed Keith and Takanuva's instructions on how to activate the Suva to get weapons. The human Toa Century stood in a circle, hand in hand, and activated their powers, raising the Suva until the weapons were visible. Tyler grabbed a staff with a scimitar's blade at the end; Emma chose a pair of swords; Kylana, an elemental longbow; Keith, a large mace; and finally Cory with a crossbow that could split into two hatchets.

They deactivated the Suva, and headed back to the bridge, each of them running as fast as they could to where the fighting was getting ready to begin.


	9. Chapter 8

The Return

_Chapter 8_

The sun began to sink as evening approached the Island City of Metru-Nui. The air was dense and sticky along with smoky from the mortars that had rocked the entire city earlier that day. Takanuva and Tyler led the team of Toa through the rubble of Ga-Metru's shoreline. Time seemed to slow as they neared the site of the would-be battle. Standing elegantly at the bow of one of many boats was Officer Glade. She wore a basic Marines uniform along with a malicious grin. Her hair was jet black and cropped short, contrasting her now sickly white skin. She was no longer human in her intentions, and had vowed to bring down this group of Toa.

The five human Toa put on their masks and pulled out their weapons, all of them prepared for the possibly fatal battle ahead. The other Toa were also prepared. Takanuva pulled out his ancient Staff of Light, while Takano and Kolana armed themselves with their weapons, his crimson sword and her pearl white bow. Silently the Toa waited, knowing that they were impossibly out numbered, and yet impossibly powerful. Takano was the first to make a move, activating his mask power, he protected the group from the almost instantaneous first wave of attacks. There was a barrage of gunfire followed by the explosions of artillery, but Takano didn't even flinch. He had been through much worse attacks during the Matoran Civil War, Attacks that rendered his mask power useless.

Kylana was the next on the Toa's side to make a move. She aimed her elemental bow toward the ceiling of the cavern above Officer Glade's troops. As the arrow struck its target, she activated its elemental power, pulling the cave down on top of the troops. Somehow though, Officer Glade had prepared for such an attack, and activated a sort of force field around the closest boats to her. Kylana collapsed from the effort, having never used her new powers for such a large task before. Kolana and Takanuva rushed to her side and began to transfer some of their elemental powers into the fallen Toa of Earth.

"You know, Toa Kylana, my good friend Onua did a similar thing to the Rahkshi." Takanuva whispered to her, mostly to help her relax.

Officer Glade then did something that surprised even the veterans on her side. She summoned a wave larger than even the old Coliseum of Metru-Nui. Emma was quick to react, but not quick enough as the entire group was washed back toward the city. Cory, thinking quickly, as usual, generated an air bubble around the group that held them where they were before they were pulled into the sea.

Once the waters began to wash away, they saw that the remaining troops of Officer Glade had begun to retreat, including Officer Glade. Apparently, they had thought that their foes were defeated for the time being.

When the water was finally back to its normal level, Tyler looked around and began to assess the damage. He had accounted for everyone, but one. Emma. It was then that he saw her lying face down on the shore, against some rocks. That wasn't the worst part, when he reached her and turned her on her back, he found that she was barely conscious and bleeding from a deep gash on her forehead.

"T-Tyler…" She mumbled as she looked up at him through pained eyes.

"Emma," He started, stroking her cheek softly. "You're going to be all right." Tyler spoke softly; he barely believed what he was saying. She was losing blood very quickly, and Tyler knew that she wouldn't last much longer if he didn't get help.

"T-Tyler, I-I--" She didn't finish her sentence as she lost consciousness.

"Kolana!! Takanuva!!" He yelled. They rushed over and he quickly explained what was wrong. Kolana carefully began to seal the wound as Takanuva taught her how to do it with Ice powers.

"We have to get her out of here." Kolana said when she finished sealing the wound. Tyler gently picked his friend up and began to walk towards his family's new home. He knew that if she was to survive her injury, he would have to monitor her condition constantly, but he was ready to do anything to keep Emma alive, no matter what happened.

- - - - -

Emma was awake by the time the Toa reached Tyler's house, but she was still not back to normal yet. As Takanuva and Kolana were healing her, Takanuva had found a small amount of bacteria that, try as he might, he couldn't eliminate. He hadn't yet told Tyler, but was going to tell him once Emma was in bed.

"Toa," Takanuva addressed the others once they were inside, "We have fought an important battle, but the war has only begun. Only through Unity can we do our Duty, and complete our Destiny. We may lose some during this conflict, but do not worry, The Great Return has only just begun. Mata-Nui's will shall be done."

"Thank you, Takanuva." Keith said as he walked over next to him. "I believe that we are all heading back to our new homes now, so, see you in the morning."

The Toa, other than Takanuva, Tyler, and the bedridden Emma, all filed out Tyler's family's home, and went to their houses. Emma's mom had decided, since they were dislocated, to stay with Tyler's family. Takanuva and Tyler left Emma's room and headed into Tyler's, so that the elder Toa of Light could explain to Tyler about the possible disease.

"So, Toa Takanuva, what's up?" Tyler asked semi-casually.

"It's about Emma." He replied, causing Tyler's heart to sink.

"She's all right, isn't she?" Tyler spoke demandingly.

"I don't know. I found something strange, an infection that I couldn't destroy while I was healing her. She should be fine since Kolana and I healed her, but she isn't. Tyler, she needs you right now, more than she's probably needed anyone else before. Keep an eye on her for me. If anything out of the ordinary, for a human, happens, let me know. Good-night, Toa Tyler. It was nice meeting you and your team." Takanuva said as he left his young friends room.

Tyler walked back into Emma's room after Takanuva left. She was lying on her bed and reading a Bionicle novel. When she noticed Tyler come in, she closed the book and watched silently as he sat down on her bed next to her.

"Tyler, about earlier," she spoke softly as though she didn't want anyone else to hear. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did your best out there, and I couldn't ask for anything more." He replied with a smile.

"Not about the battle, Tyler, but about what I was going to say before I passed out." She coughed hard. "Tyler, I don't just like you. I-I," She paused to cough again. "I love you. You're the only person that I've ever met that worried more about their friends then themselves."

"I know, Emma. I love you, also. When this is over, we can go live a normal life, together." He told her. She moved closer to him and embraced him, glad that she finally had fully admitted her feelings for him. After a few minutes they let go of each other and Tyler headed for the door.

"Tyler, why don't you stay in here? I know that I'll rest better knowing that you're in the same room. And I'm sure that you'll sleep better too." Emma suggested to her best friend.

"All right." He sighed "Let me get my pillow and blankets." And with that he left her room to get his things.


	10. Chapter 9

The Return

_Chapter 9_

The two Toa awoke the next morning to Tyler's mom telling them that there was bacon and eggs for breakfast. They hurried downstairs to find that the other Toa were there, including Takanuva. All eight of the Toa ate breakfast and talked with one another until the last of them was finished eating. Keith then announced that they would be going to the Great Furnace in Ta-Metru to spend the day learning from the Matoran-Toa how to make masks with powers, without using Kanoka disks.

Tyler and Emma rushed upstairs to grab their weapons before leaving.

"You seem to be feeling better today, Emma." Tyler commented while she packed up a small knapsack with a journal and some sketches.

"Yeah. Telling you my feelings last night really took a weight off of my shoulders." She smiled at her best friend.

"What are those sketches of?" The Toa of Light asked.

"These?" She pointed to her sketchbooks. "These are various masks that I've designed over the years. You know that I like to draw, don't you?"

"Yes. I just didn't realize how often you drew." He replied

Emma slung her knapsack over her shoulder and walked down the stairs. Tyler led her out the front door where the other Toa were waiting. They left Tyler's house and headed toward the ruins of Ta-Metru. Tyler walked alongside Emma, his hand in hers, as they were led away from the peaceful ruins of the City of Water.

Takanuva led the way, knowing the safest paths through the city. He watched his surroundings closely, hoping, in vain, that Makuta didn't know his whereabouts. Knowing that he was being cautious, there was no talking. They soon reached there destination without incident.

- - - - -

Keith pulled out a small tool that looked very worn and aged. It glowed dimly when Keith pressed a button on it, but other than that and putting out some heat, the Human Toa knew nothing about what they were about to do. Takanuva, Kolana and Takano pulled out similar tools and led the Toa deep into the rubble. The heat began to build as they went farther out into the rubble field until Takano eventually had to absorb some of it so that the Human Toa didn't pass out.

"Normally," Keith said "People wouldn't even be able to make it this far into the rubble field."

"Matoran couldn't either." Takanuva added quietly.

Finally they stopped and gathered around a small well of molten protodermis.

"The last pure protodermis well" Kolana spoke solemnly, as if in mourning for the dead civilization.

"It's all right, Granddaughter." Takanuva comforted his descendant. "There is an ancient prophecy about the Fall and the Return. It says that the matoran civilization will fall and rise up again as a Kanohi Dragon from its ashes."

"But, Toa Takanuva," Takano asked, "I thought that the prophecy was referring the Great Rescue and rebuilding of Metru-Nui."

"No, no. Metru-Nui was the starting point for all of this. It was Makuta's first step to power."

Tyler stopped paying attention to the argument and let his thoughts wander. He was remembering the story of the Great Rescue, in the time of the Toa Metru. Matoran had either been killed or put into stasis when Makuta took over. Though they were rescued, the Toa Metru couldn't save them fast enough to save their memories.

"Tyler, you okay?" Kylana asked the young Toa of Light snapping him back to reality.

"Yeah," He replied, "Just daydreaming."

"Well, pay attention. We're getting ready to start." She told him as she handed him one of the strange tools.

They soon began to create the masks. Emma passed around her sketchbook for the others to see and choose a design. Takanuva then explained how to put power into the protodermis in order to make the mask work. He also helped them make one mask for each of them called an Inika, after the Toa Inika, which contained all six Toa Inika powers.

When they were finished they tried out their two masks to make sure that they worked. Emma's new mask, a mask of healing, helped heal the various injuries that the Toa got from practicing their new mask powers. Her old mask also helped, as it was a mask of quick repair, used for repairing the injuries to their biomechanical parts. The other Toa made the Kanohi that the Toa Metru used, only with Emma's designs.

It soon became evening, and the Toa began to head home. They had just left the ruins of the Great Furnace when a rumbling came from behind them.

The Toa quickly turned around and witnessed an event that Toa Takanuva didn't even think was possible. Out of the ruins burst a giant dragon, its body covered in what looked like Kanohi Masks.

"Mata-Nui!!" Takano exclaimed, "Th-The Kanohi Dragon!"

"Toa, fall back, and watch as I banish this monster to the Pit." Takanuva shouted over the Dragon's booming roar.

"NO!" Kolana yelled as she tackled the ancient Toa of Light. "If we are to fully bring about the Return, we must leave everything from our time intact."

"Kolana, that beast is a threat to the world!" Takanuva said as he pushed the Toa of Ice off of him.

"Both of you stop!" A youthful feminine voice spoke calmly, echoing through the group of Toa's heads. "Toa are not supposed to fight each other, but the great evils that invade the world."

"Who said that?! Show yourself!" Keith growled at the voice. The giant Kanohi Dragon dove down to the level of the Toa and carefully landed in front of them.

"I already have." She simply replied.

"What kind of trickery is this?" Keith spoke with a voice full of anger. "Who is using a Mahiki?"

"No one is using any sort of mask, Toa of Stone." The Kanohi Dragon said. "I am a descendant of the Kanohi Dragon that a Toa Team had once thought to have driven from the City of Legends."

"Impossible. I know for a fact that Toa Lhikan truly drove your ancestor away." Takano stated.

"Toa Lhikan didn't drive my ancestor away, but provided her a home under the Great Furnace. He directly disobeyed the orders Turaga Dume gave him to drive her away from the city."

As the other Toa and the Kanohi Dragon talked their argument out, Tyler and Emma began to head home. They followed the path that the group of Toa had taken earlier that day. It was getting dark, so Tyler had to activate his powers to make it possible for he and Emma to see.

"Tyler?" Emma said as they crossed the bridge between Ta-Metru and Ga-Metru. "What are we supposed to do about Officer Glade? We know that she's going to attack again, but how are we going to learn when?"

"I can't answer that, Emma." Tyler replied.

They kept walking until they were home. The two Toa greeted their parents before going up the stairs and heading into Emma's room. Before entering, Tyler made a mental note of how uneasy his parents and Emma's mom were. Emma opened her door and walked in. Tyler was about to follow her when a single gunshot went off in her room. The Toa of Light rushed in, ready to blast whoever fired the gun into the next world. Before he could do anything, a dark figure jumped out of the open window to the street below.


	11. Chapter 10

The Return

_Chapter 10_

Tyler, the human Toa of Light, kneeled down next to his best friend. She was pale from loss of blood, and was drifting in and out of consciousness. During her few moments awake, Tyler would let her know that he was there. She had been shot in the stomach and was growing weaker by the minute

About two hours after Emma was shot, there was a knock at the door to her bedroom. Tyler opened it and in stepped the other six Toa each of them with solemn faces. The young Toa of Light explained what had taken place, and what was going on with Emma. Kolana stepped over to her human friend and laid her hand on the Toa of Water's wound. She did her best to heal it, but the effort barely had any effect.

"Tyler?" Emma spoke faintly when she regained consciousness.

"Yes, Emma?" Tyler said as he looked at his dying friend.

"I want you to try and heal me." She grimly smiled.

"I'll need Takanuva's help." He told her.

"No. You can do it yourself. I trust you." The Toa of Water coughed painfully. "I'll only trust you and Kolana to heal me properly."

Tyler began to charge his powers of light to do something that he had never dreamed of having to do, heal his best friend. Slowly he focused the light into a calming glow that surrounded his hands. He placed his hands on Emma's wound and poured his elemental energies into her. Light flowed over her, acting as if it were water, and enveloped her body. Soon the light surrounding the Toa of Water faded and the rest of the light in the room returned to normal. Tyler began to stand, but collapsed from the effort he put into healing Emma. The other Toa lifted him and set him in his bed across the hall.

Corey sat down at Tyler's desk, noticing a quickly scribbled note lying on it. He read over it before picking it up and running to Keith, who was back in Emma's room checking on the Toa of Water. The Toa of Stone gasped when he read it, and called for the six still conscious Toa.

"What is it, Toa Keith?" Takanuva asked.

"Corey found a note lying on Tyler's desk. It appears that it was written by whoever shot Emma."

"What does it say?" Kolana asked worriedly.

"_Toa. I have found an ally that you might remember. He is the Master of Shadows, and Ruler of Darkness. If you surrender, you might live. Otherwise, be prepared to make your last stand._

_-General Glade"_

"No. It can't be." Takanuva said softly, fear filling his voice. "How could he have survived? How? I've already defeated him twice."

"Who, Toa Takanuva?" Takano asked.

"Makuta."

- - - - -

Tyler drifted through his dreams, each one passing by him in a haze. He had one thought in his mind, did Emma survive? One of the many dreams he had was about a gold and white matoran wandering about aimlessly, and then suddenly becoming blue and red. The matoran was carving into a large wall that was already covered in matoran glyphs. Suddenly the matoran turned toward Tyler and pulled out a mask.

"_I am he that will become your future from the past." _The figure said, its voice strong and noble. _"Without the past, there is no future. When the future and the past meet, all will know the truth. Mata-Nui has once again been cast into shadow. It is only through the strength of the Toa that he can be awakened, and the destructive Shadow be banished."_

The dream slowly faded as Tyler fell into a restful sleep.

- - - - -

It was mid-morning when Emma was suddenly awakened, remembering nothing of what had happened the night before. Then, slowly, it came back to her, the mysterious assassin, Tyler attempting to heal her, everything up until she passed out. She looked around her room, finding Kylana and Kolana asleep in separate corners. Remembering the intense pain from her injury, she carefully got out of bed. Noticing no pain, she decided to slip into the bathroom and check her wound.

As she looked herself over, all she could find was a small scar in her armor where she assumed the bullet had gone into her. Leaving the bathroom, she snuck into Tyler's room, where her best friend slept. He was tossing and turning, and she could tell that he was having nightmares. She sat down on the chair next to his bed and laid her hand on his. He quickly relaxed, and she knew that his nightmares had stopped.

It was nearly lunch-time when Tyler finally awakened. Emma had already been back to her room and let Kolana know where she was. She went back to Tyler's room and found him sitting up in bed.

"Am I dreaming? You look much better than you did before you were shot." Tyler said, making an attempt at a joke.

"If I do, it is only because you healed me." Emma replied with a smile as she sat down on the bed next to him.

"Let's go downstairs. I'm hungry." Tyler said as he began to get out of bed.

"Me too, I haven't eaten anything since yesterday at dinner."


	12. Chapter 11

The Return

_Chapter 11_

A lone figure stepped through the corridors of Makuta's lair cautiously. Her skin was a pale and sickly white, while her hair was as dark as the night that now overshadowed her life. Suddenly a short, but strong figure shot out beside her and held a knife to her throat.

"State your business." The short one said, his voice frail and aged, but still powerful and commanding.

"I am General Korlan Glade. Chief of our master's army. I have come to report the assassination of one of the elementals. The water one, if I'm not mistaken." She said calmly, as if this had happened thousands of times before.

"Proceed with caution." The short figure replied. "For our master is not in a pleased mood with you."

She walked forward as the short figure stepped away. Quickly, she walked through the great archway that was shaped like a giant Hau and entered the Throne chamber of Makuta.

"I am not pleased with your failure, Glade." A great, booming yet aged voice stated agitatedly.

"What failure?!" The general said rebelliously. "I killed the water elemental as I was instructed to do so."

"No, you did not." The voice of Makuta rumbled through the chamber. Suddenly General Glade's mind became filled with the images of Tyler healing Emma and them awakening the next morning.

"I am…" She paused for emphasis "Deeply sorry for my failure, Great Shadow."

"I have a new assignment for you." Makuta said more calmly then before.

"Yes, my master."

"Kill the parents of both the Human Toa of Light and his friend, the Toa of Water."

"It shall be done, correctly this time."

- - - - -

The eight Toa sat around in the main room of Tyler's house. Most of them were relaxing, while Tyler and Emma were still very tense and on alert. They knew that Makuta was back, and they wanted to be ready for whatever he would throw at them next. Keith, the oldest in the group at 19 years of age, was the most relaxed though, as a Toa of Stone should be in any situation. He was lying around, joking with Cory and the others. Tyler and Emma on the other hand were more tense and wanting to focus on the current mission.

Takano and Kolana were learning various details about their heritage and the Civilization of the matoran from Toa Takanuva. Kolana, with Takano's help, was compiling a chronicle of the adventures of their ancestors, including Takanuva.

It was about an hour past noon when Takanuva finally decided it was time for the Toa to begin their training in battle. Cory and Emma were the only ones with any real hand-to-hand combat experience, as they were both in a martial arts class of some sort. Kolana and Takano had experience fighting with weapons, and that was it as far as training was concerned.

Takanuva led the Toa Team to the ancient ruins of the Coliseum. The tower nearly touched the top of the cavern's roof, literally, to the matoran, becoming a skyscraper. According to the elder Toa of Light, the Akilini field was still for the most part in tact and the mechanics still useable. In the years of inactivity, the once grand Coliseum had decayed to the point that Takano and Kolana hardly recognized the interior. As they walked through the deserted halls, small spiders and other insects scattered. The air was damp and filled with the smells of ancient decay. At one point they came across the solid protodermis remains of a Turaga and matoran. The Turaga wore a slightly red Tryna, mask of reanimation, and the matoran wore a Suletu that was barely orange in color. Takano dropped to his knees.

"No…" He whimpered, tears beginning to stream down his mask. "My-my parents…"

The last of the group caught up with the three Matoran based Toa. Emma and Kolana hurried over to Takano, who was crying silently in grief.

"This is not a good sign." Takanuva said softly. "It is a dark omen to those who come across something like this unintentionally. Stay on guard, Toa. This may only be the beginning of our problems."

After helping Takano to his feet, they cautiously proceeded through the halls. They had no more encounters with bodies, but they stayed on guard none the less.

When they finally reached the old Akilini field, they found the remains of two armies strewn all over it. It was as if one of the final battles had taken place there. Most of the bodies were matoran, Toa, or Turaga, but there were scores of other species from the era mixed in with them.

While everyone was looking in shock over the battlefield, Takanuva pulled a silver, unused Tryna out of some nearby rubble. Placing it over his Avhokii, he activated the mask's power of reanimation. Slowly, the beings lifted themselves up, grabbed their ancient weapons up off the ground, and began to charge at the stunned Toa Century.

The seven Toa quickly snapped out of their daze, and pulled out their weapons as arrows began to sing through the air. They scattered as the majority of the arrows landed where they were standing. Takano and Tyler ended up back-to-back, both of them blasting away the reanimated beings with their elemental powers. Takano expertly wielded his sword and powers, and as flames danced up and down his blade, he dispatched a Toa using it's water powers against him. Tyler, on the other hand was struggling to bring down a shadow creature that had targeted him from across the field, and kept teleporting back and forth from directly in front of him, to out of range of his staff. He finally brought it down with a concentrated nova blast that nearly caused him to pass out.

Kolana and Emma were having a hard time trying to defeat a Toa of Fire that was battling them. Kolana's frost arrows were becoming steam before they would reach the reanimated Toa, and Emma's water powers were too weak still to cause any major damage. They only defeated the Fire Toa out of shear luck, when Emma and Kolana accidentally created an extremely powerful and compact blizzard that surrounded the other Toa.

After about an hour of battling, Takanuva deactivated the Tryna and caused all of the opponents to fall to the ground. Before anyone could see, he quickly pulled off the mask and stowed it back in the rubble he had pulled it from. After he was done, he called the other Toa over.

"For a team so inexperienced with any form of combat, you are the most natural at wielding weapons and elemental powers Toa I have ever seen." He smiled proudly. "You don't need as much training as I expected, thus, you are ready for a good rest of the day off." The Toa cheered loudly, their voices echoing through the arena. "I will keep watch from up in the Great Turaga's Watch-chamber in the seventh tower. If I see anything, I will let Tyler know through our connection as Toa. Takano, Kolana, you know the way back to Ga-Metru. Have fun, but be cautious. I will see you at an hour past sundown."

- - - - -

As the Toa turned down the wide, empty avenue that Tyler's house was on, they immediately knew that something was amiss. The evening was hazy and as the visible sky turned orange and the shadows lengthened, they strolled cautiously toward Tyler's house. When the front door became visible, the Toa stopped. The remains of the door were scattered all over the walkway in front of the house, as if a small explosion had happened inside of the house.

"NO!" Emma screamed as Tyler rushed into the house. She too sprinted into the house, following Tyler.

"Mata-Nui protect us." Takano whispered as he and the other Toa Century cautiously waited for Tyler and Emma to return.

- - - - -

Tyler searched through the house for any sign of his family and Emma's mother. He found no sign of them, but did find the signs of a struggle. As he entered his parents room, he found it to be empty, but looked as if a battle had taken place inside. There were scorch marks on the walls and ceiling and the bed covering was tattered and burnt.

"Tyler!!" He heard Emma shout from the downstairs area. "Tyler, where are you?"

He felt cold tears beginning to stream down his face, as cold as he felt inside. Again they had underestimated the Makuta, as so Toa had before them. Makuta had caught them off-guard, and succeeded in at least capturing Tyler and Emma's families.

He went aimlessly down the stairs, and past Emma, muttering only that "They're gone." As he walked through the door, and into the darkening evening, he passed the other Toa who looked solemn. His silent death march took him down past the great temple before turning toward the remains of the crystalline Knowledge Towers of Ko-Metru. He never looked back; his steps were solid and firm, unlike his emotion. He didn't know what to feel, anger or grief, hate or depression, it all felt the same.

When he finally reached his unknown destination, he found that he was at the single remaining Tower of Thought, he didn't think twice about entering. Walking slowly inside, he created a softly glowing light, as it was nearly pitch black inside the ancient structure. In all of his life, he never thought that someone or something could ever truly be more evil or determined than the bullies of his former schools. He had finally realized how dangerous of a war game he was in, and he no longer wanted to play. His family was gone, and more than likely dead, as was Emma's mother. But, he knew that if he quit, hundreds, maybe thousands would die. He and his team were the only ones who could bring about the Return, and save their otherwise doomed world.

- - - - -

Emma, Toa of Water, walked with the Toa of Ice, Kolana, through the streets of Ga-Metru. They had mostly been silent, only breaking the still night when they needed to decide which way to go. Early on both of them had nonverbally decided to not say anything, but both Emma and Kolana wanted to ask questions about each other's lives.

"Emma?" Kolana finally said, breaking the silence. "What was you and Tyler's lives like before we came, and you guys became Toa?"

"Much different. The closest we ever got to an adventure or danger was in books, video games, or movies. Not many people go on true adventures anymore. Life was almost too simple, almost. We had never been extremely close, like we are today. He was a huge Bionicle fan when we met in eighth-grade, while I was a hard-working school-lover. A normal day for me was mostly taken up by school in some form. He, on the other-hand, would always use up his spare time to read or play video games." She paused. "What was life like in the matoran civilization, before everyone was killed?"

"I was summoned as a child during the war, so I don't know much about what life was like before the war. During the war, my family lived in peace in Ko-Koro, one of the last areas to fall. Turaga Nuju was actually alive until the last battle, where he died a hero. His last breaths were spent giving Takano and I directions on how to activate the Toa Transports that we were in when we were summoned again. Almost everyone else from Nuju's time was already dead because of the war." She stopped suddenly, putting her arm out to stop Emma.

"What's wrong?" Emma whispered.

"I think I saw a light in that Tower of Thought." Kolana said as she pointed to the shimmering structure in the distance. Sure enough, there was a soft glow partway up the Tower. Emma knew almost immediately that Tyler was up there and began to walk toward the Tower, and Ko-Metru. She watched as the light moved slowly up the tower and her toward it.. Her friend was not in a good mood, and she knew how he got when he got in the type of mood he was in now. The first time she had seen him in one of these moods, was when his grandparents on his mother's side were killed in a terrible car accident one year earlier. It was a huge loss for his and Emma's small town, but an even larger loss for Tyler. He had been very close to his grandmother, and after the funeral, he descended into a deep depression. After a while he became mostly his normal self again, but the times he would smile were fewer then they had been.

Emma continued walking as Kolana followed behind and pointed out various different landmarks along the way for Emma. They reached the Tower of Thought within twenty minutes, and found that Tyler was already almost to the top. Emma looked around at the surroundings, trying to prepare for dealing with her best friend. While Ga-Metru was still very pristine and full of beauty and life, Ko-Metru was as dead and devoid of life as the moon. It was as if a Toa of Stone used its Nova Blast against the district. One of the only structures still standing was the Tower of Thought, more than likely the refuge of a Toa of Ice during the Nova Blast.

As they entered the ancient Tower, they found it completely dark. Thinking for a moment, Kolana produced a glowing yellow quartz-like crystal from a pocket in her armor. Emma was again shocked at some of the fantasies that were in fact real. Something as simple and common as a source of light was still amazing. They moved quickly through the Tower, Kolana using her Akaku, mask of x-ray vision, to check on Tyler.

As they neared Tyler and the top floor, Emma's heart began to pound. She sensed a danger nearby that she hadn't earlier. She also felt a sudden fear. Nodding to Kolana to have the Toa of Ice check on Tyler, Emma began to walk faster. When Kolana deactivated her mask's power, she wore an expression of great dismay. They broke out into a run, a race against time to rescue their friend.


	13. Chapter 12

The Return

_Chapter 12_

Tyler looked out over the once vastly populated city of Metru-Nui. He could see the faintly glowing embers of Ta-Metru, the flowing waterfalls of Ga-Metru, and the ruins of Po-Metru and Onu-Metru. The rest of the City was hidden by the walls of the Knowledge Tower. He wiped the fresh tears from his eyes; he knew that his sister would have loved the view from where he stood.

As he looked toward the Coliseum, he caught a sudden movement out of the corner of his eye. The Toa turned around swiftly, unsheathing the short sword he carried as a secondary weapon.

"Do you honestly think that a puny weapon like that can even irritate the Spirit of Darkness?" A deep, rumbling voice said.

"Makuta, you foul beast, I shall avenge my family." Tyler boldly shouted.

"Vengeance? Vengeance is not a Toa's duty." The room darkened as Tyler's light faded. "Take vengeance, and become your own team's enemy, a slave to the shadow."

"You lie!" Tyler yelled and tried to raise his light powers.

"Your rage shall become your own undoing, Toa of Light." Makuta cackled. "I was once in your position, Toa. I was once a Toa of Iron, one of the greatest to ever live. That was until Karzahni ordered to have my family killed. When I found out about their deaths, I sought out and murdered the Vortixx servant of Karzahni that killed them. That act stripped me of my servitude to the Great Spirit. In grief, I rebuilt myself, using pieces from every known matoran element. I became more powerful than anyone except Karzahni, Artahka and Mata-Nui. I gained powers never imagined by a Toa. The ability to create creatures of shadow, beings of my own essence that carried one of my newfound powers." The images floated through Tyler's mind, blocking out all of reality, and filling him with Makuta's memories. "I began to gather followers, all of them former Toa, fallen from being Heroes. Showing them how to rebuild themselves, I began to build a brotherhood. We titled ourselves Makuta, after the ancient word for Darkness, a title that would eventually become my name. After a while, we redeemed ourselves in Mata-Nui's eyes. We became the most powerful protectors of the matoran. Not long after that, we built a fortress, built to house our greatest treasures, the Masks of Light and Shadow. The Kraahkan became our emblem, for we were but shadows of our former selves. As our power grew, so did our corruption. Malice became our code, and evil our passion. After the betrayal of the Toa Hagah, all but a handful of matoran left our protection. Ahkmou and the few light-leached Av-Matoran spread out and carefully began to build a rebel army. After many years of secrecy, Ahkmou began the revolution that would ultimately bring down his own civilization."

The visions of darkness faded, and Tyler found that he had walked to the edge of the room, where there once was an icy window. Makuta stood directly behind him, and as Tyler turned toward his enemy, he saw that Makuta was grinning. It was the cocky grin of victory nearly achieved. Tyler knew that these would be his final moments, and as one thought crept into his mind, he saw what he hoped that his life would be disappear. He put all of his remaining energy into transmitting that one thought to Emma, and wished for a miracle.

Makuta began pooling his energies, wanting to be sure that his most hated enemy was not only killed, but utterly decimated. As he did so, Tyler knelt down and accepted his fate. He prayed to Mata-Nui, a god he didn't even know really existed until less than two months ago, that his friends would be able to save the world on their own, without him. He prayed that Emma would hear his final thoughts, and that his team's families would be saved from Makuta's wrath.

- - - - -

Emma grabbed Kolana's arm and they both stopped. They were still several stories below Tyler and Makuta, and Kolana was confused as to why the Toa of Water had stopped her. As Kolana turned to face Emma, the Toa of Ice saw tears pouring from her eyes. Emma pulled off her mask and looked up toward where Tyler was kneeling, waiting for his death to come.

"No…" Was all that Kolana could mutter, for she knew what was about to take place.

The Toa of Water fell to her knees, as she saw through Tyler's eyes what was taking place. She heard what he had wanted her to hear, but not only did she hear what he wanted her to, their minds became one for those last few moments. As Makuta charged his powers for his deathblow, Tyler and Emma silently formulated a plan for Emma to give to the other Toa Century. As their connection began to fade, Emma, through thought, told Tyler the one thing she had been afraid to tell him since they had become best friends. She told him how she had always liked him, but as time went on, and through this adventure, she had realized that she had hidden her true feelings toward him from herself even, and as the last of the connection faded they told each other the one thing they wished they could've shared longer, and that was that they loved each other.

- - - - -

Tyler opened his eyes for the last time letting the held-in tears begin flowing, after mentally speaking with Emma and them telling each other about their love for each other, and saw the mask of his soon to be killer.

Makuta saw the Toa of Light's tears, and almost felt sorry for him. The Master of Shadow remembered the love he had once felt toward his family, a memory he hadn't seen in millennia. He thought that he must have been going soft, for he hadn't felt pity since the last of the matoran left his protection. His conscience may have been bugging him, but his will was still strong. He decided that he would just kill the Toa of Light, not completely annihilate him.

Tyler looked peaceful as Makuta stepped over to him and pulled out a sharpened sword. Makuta looked at the armor of the Toa of Light, and found a weak spot in it near Tyler's heart.

"Good-bye, Emma, I lo--" Tyler's whispered last words were cut off as Makuta thrust the sword through his chest.

"Farewell, Toa." Makuta said softly as a single tear escaped from one of his eyes. He quickly transformed, and flew off to his lair, where Tyler and Emma's parents were waiting in chains.

- - - - -

Emma stood up and walked slowly up the remaining floors to where Tyler's body was laying. Kolana, on the other hand, walked down to the ground floor to stand guard, and wait for the other Toa to arrive. She had summoned them while Emma was kneeling, waiting for Makuta to leave, but she hadn't told them about Tyler in the summons.

As Emma entered the room on the floor that Tyler's body was on, tears began flowing from her eyes more than she had ever felt them flow before. Her best friend, and the only non-family member she had ever truly loved was laying peacefully on the floor, no sword or any sign as to how he was killed, even though she knew he had been stabbed in the chest.

"Tyler…" She whimpered as another wave of tears flowed down her bare face. The Toa of Water looked around the room so that she could take in the surroundings of her best friend's death. That's when she noticed the piece of cloth sticking to a jet black sword that had been stuck into the floor. She walked over to it and saw that a note was scribbled in Matoran on the piece of cloth.

_Toa of Water,_

_I am actually sorry that your relationship with the Toa of Light had to end this way, but do not let anyone on your team know that, or I will have to kill you as well. I once loved a Toa of Plant Life, back when I was a Toa of Iron. She was killed in a Dark Hunter raid on Metru-Nui. I hope that you will accept my sword from that time as a truce offering for as long as it takes for the rest of your team to bring about the rest of The Return of the Matoran Civilization. I and my minions will stay out of your way, and even help integrate Matoran Society into Human Society. I am also releasing yours and the Toa of Light's parents. Do not think that I've had a full change of heart, but I have had a small one._

_-Makuta_

"I accept, former Toa of Iron, Makuta." Emma whispered, but she knew that Makuta could hear her. From what she could tell by the hurried and shaky handwriting, she was pretty sure that Makuta was being sincere. She used her water powers to wipe the ink off of the cloth, and stuffed it into a niche in the wall. Silently, she walked back to Tyler's body and gently lifted it into her arms. She hurried back down to the ground floor, carefully carrying Tyler all the way. As she stepped through the doors to the Tower of Thought, she found the remaining members of her team, as well as her and Tyler's families. They all had their heads bowed and wore somber faces. For all of them, a great friend, leader, and hero had been killed.

Emma led them back to Tyler's house, each of them leaving to go to their own respective dwellings once they were in Ga-Metru. Emma carried Tyler's body to his room, and laid it gently on his bed.


	14. Chapter 13

The Return

_Chapter 13_

Makuta walked to his private chambers, avoiding his two minions as he returned to his home.

"Brother," He said to the glowing Hau carved into one wall of his chambers, "What have I done?" Tears poured softly down his mask. "I have killed the hero I once was, murdered my friend Lani, destroyed a life that was once mine." He sighed. "I know what I must do to redeem myself. I shall sacrifice myself to resurrect myself."

The Master of Shadows walked to the vault that held one of the three most powerful Kanohi masks ever created, the Kanohi Ignika. He unlocked it, and entered, knowing that the use of the Mask of Life carried a steep price that could even mean death. Carefully, he shut the door to the vault behind him, and walked toward the glowing pedestal that the Ignika sat on.

"This is the price I must pay to repent for my sins against you, Mata-Nui." Makuta spoke to the Mask. He stepped closer, and could feel his life energy being pulled out of him and into the mask. Hurrying things up, he donned the mask, and all fell silent for him. His thoughts all focused on reviving the Toa of Light that he had killed, and as he focused his thoughts, he focused his energy, giving all of it that he could to the mask. As his surroundings began to fade, he could see not only the Toa of Light's face smiling at him, but his brother Mata-Nui, and many matoran. He knew that he had finally done something completely right since his fall many, many millennia ago. His last thought was not of Tyler or anyone else he had seen at first, but of the friend that was torn from him not long before his family was killed.

- - - - -

Early the next morning, Emma sat next to Tyler's bed, where he lay peacefully as if he was asleep. She had not left his bedside for more than a few minutes at a time that night and not gotten any sleep. Though she knew that he was gone, she still had an undying hope that he would wake up, and the nightmare would be over. The Toa of Water looked over at the dead Toa, for she thought that she had caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. When she found that nothing had changed, she went back to the journal that she was writing to record the tragic events of the night before.

She brushed the fresh tears from her eyes as she struggled to stay awake. Looking over at the black sword lying next to Tyler's Kanohi and Toa Tools, she realized that something in the room had changed. Where before the room was dim in the early dawn light, it had begun to brighten. The dim lightstones that she had borrowed from Kolana began to build in strength, all in a matter of a few minutes. Emma looked over at the Toa of Light's body, and found that it too was beginning to glow.

The Toa of water dropped the tablet that she was holding and started to back towards the door. She was about to leave when a bright light shot through the window and hit Tyler's Body in the chest. The intensity of the flash knocked Emma to the ground. As she stood back up, after the light had dissipated, she found that Tyler's body was floating above the bed and surrounded by white light. Slowly the light dimmed, and his body was gently lowered back into the bed. Emma walked over to him and placed her hand on his. She quickly pulled back when she felt the muscles suddenly tense.

"Emma?!" Her mother yelled from downstairs where she was already making breakfast. "What was that bright flash?"

"Nothing, Mom." She replied. Emma looked back at Tyler and found that his chest was moving as if he was breathing. The Toa of Water moved up to his head and placed a hand near his nose and found warm breath coming out.

- - - - -

Keith, Toa of Stone, and Takano, Toa of Fire, hurried their pace as they ran to the Mirado's Metru-Nui home. They had just received a message from Kolana and Emma that something strange had happened that morning. The other Toa were already at the house and knew what had happened. As they reached the house, Tyler's parents greeted them. They stepped into the front room where sitting in a chair was the leader of the Toa Century, Toa Tyler.

"Tyler?! Is that really you?" Keith asked the reborn Toa of Light.

"Yeah, it's me." Tyler replied with a weak smile.

"How?" Takano questioned Emma.

"I honestly don't know. Kolana believes that the Mask of Life was used, but we don't know for sure." She answered putting her hand on Tyler's.

"But everyone is here. The only other being that knows that Tyler was dead is Makuta," Came a statement from the door as Greg Farshtey walked into the room.

"Thanks for coming, Greg." Mrs. Mirado said. "We really need your help figuring out if there was anything that could link Makuta to owning that mask.

"Towards the end of the records, the Brotherhood of Makuta had gained control of the Mask of Life, but Makuta stole it from his own allies and hid it in one of his lairs. That is all that we know." Greg spoke quickly.

"There is something that I found." Emma said softly. "Right after I went in to get Tyler's body, I found the black sword. The full story is that there was a note tied to it written by Makuta. I think that his conscience finally got to him. He has to be the one that used the mask."

"It isn't likely, but it is our only plausible idea. If it is true, then we shouldn't have to worry about Glade or anyone for a while." Takano stated. "We should finish up the steps to bring about The Return."

"What are they?" Tyler asked.

"Summon the Matoran back, and actually that's all that the prophecy says that hasn't been fulfilled." Kolana replied.

"Then let's get to it." Keith said, anxious to finish their current mission finally.

"One problem, Keith," Greg said. "It takes the bond of marriage to enable a matoran to be summoned."

Takano looked at Kolana while she was watching Greg.

"Kolana," He nervously spoke. "I-I've been wondering since we returned to Metru-Nui, and after this whole adventure, i-if you'd like to be my Kanara?"

The Toa of Ice looked at the Toa of Fire and smiled. "Takano, I was just waiting for you to ask." Tears of joy began to fall from her eyes.

"Then when shall we be wedded?" He asked.

"After we have repaired the Council Chamber in the Great Temple, we shall be married." Takano smiled as she got up and walked over to him, and kissed him for the first time since they had left Mata-Nui so many thousands of years ago.


	15. Epilogue

The Return

_Epilogue_

The Sun slowly rose on the first day of the New Matoran Civilization. After an absence of many millennia, a new generation of matoran was being summoned. It had been a rough journey up to this point, with many near death experiences, and even the death of one of the Toa.

Takano and Kolana had been wedded about six months after he proposed to her. It was a quiet ceremony, attended only by the other Toa Century and their families, as well as Takanuva. They weren't the only ones wedded though. Tyler's eighteenth birthday was also the day that he proposed to Emma. She, of course, accepted, and they were married the same day only a year later.

The four Toa walked to the Coliseum where their first children would be summoned. Tyler and Emma's child was the first matoran of Iron to enter the new civilization, and Takano and Kolana's child was a matoran of Ice. Though the others slightly opposed it, Tyler and Emma named their child Makuta, after the one that had given Tyler's life back and saved the matoran race. Kolana and Takano's child was named Kopaka after Kolana's Great Grandfather.

Though they didn't know it, the Toa Century were not done with their destinies yet. Makuta's actions before returning to the light had set in motion a way for all of their hard work to be erased.

_The End of Bionicle Legacies: The Return_


End file.
